The world outside the SEC: The fall of the Texas Longhorns; Michigan wins

The Texas Longhorns are in for a long season. (Source: College Pressbox)

(RNN) – Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Firing poor defensive coordinator Manny Diaz and replacing him with Greg Robinson should have been a welcomed relief to the Texas Longhorns (1-2, 0-0 Big 12) as they faced the No. 25-ranked Ole Miss Rebels, but it was not.

In the upset special of Week 3, Ole Miss went to Austin and beat Texas 44-23.

The misery on Mack Brown's face said it all Saturday night: missing out on two Heisman-winning quarterback's in his own backyard (Johnny Manziel and Robert Griffin III), their rivals becoming more prominent in recruiting and too many revolving coaches under him are the biggest pieces to the shattered expectations of Mack Brown's last few years in Austin.

No. 11 Michigan won by the skin of its teeth, beating the Akron Zips 28-24. Quarterback Devin Gardner was not at his best, going 16-for-30 for 248 yards, with two touchdowns, three interceptions and a fumble.

Despite nearly losing to the Zips (1-2, 0-0 MAC), the Wolverines won their 17th straight home game, the longest home winning streak among BCS-schools, according to ESPN.

A few thoughts: Louisville is running football right now in the state and UK seems to be fine with that; Kentucky hired a Stoops brother? Doesn't seem like it; they are both playing a team from Florida in their next games: the Cardinals play Florida International on Sept. 21, and the Wildcats are playing No. 18 Florida on Sept 28. Good luck with that, UK. NEXT UP: vs. Florida International.

Florida State – If you're not aware of the No. 10-ranked Seminoles' freshman quarterback Jameis Winston, get used to him. Aside from his stellar performance in his first start against Pittsburgh on Sept. 2, he continued to have people asking, "How did this recruit get away from Nick Saban?" Saban is kicking himself, why wouldn't he want to continue stockpiling talent?

Winston went 15-for-18, with 214 yards, two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown, plus an interception in Florida State's 62-7 defeat of Nevada. Winston has six touchdowns and one interception in his first two starts. NEXT UP: vs. Bethune-Cookman.

Oregon – As the No. 2-ranked Ducks methodically spanked the Tennessee Volunteers 59-14 in Eugene, the Oregon faithful began chanting "We want Bama! We want Bama!" No, you don't. You don't want Alabama at home, at a neutral site, in Tuscaloosa, on Mars, on the Death Star, or on the way to grandmother's house.

It's easy to think when you're beating the 10th best team in the Southeastern Conference that you're ready for the big dog. Nevertheless, the way Alabama was exposed on defense, allowing more than 600 yards of total offense to Texas A&M, Oregon's high-powered offense might be ready. Maybe. NEXT UP: vs. California on Sept. 28.

Stanford – Much like Louisville, the No. 5-ranked Stanford Cardinals (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12) are methodically staying the course to a conference championship appearance. Stanford defeated Army 34-20 on the road. NEXT UP: vs. Arizona State.

Wisconsin – In a late night thriller, No. 20-ranked Wisconsin were defeated by Arizona State 32-30. Certainly not the upset of the weekend (see Texas above), it will certainly will bring another team up as Wisconsin may drop out of the rankings because of poor clock management. NEXT UP: vs. Purdue.

TCU – No. 24 TCU looked undisciplined in a 20-10 loss at Texas Tech, with 13 penalties for 115 yards and going 3 of 16 for their third down conversions, not doing them any favors in their Thursday night defeat.

Texas football legend Kliff Kingsbury won his first Big 12 conference game as the head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders, despite his team having fewer first downs, total offensive yards and time of possession than the Horned Frogs. NEXT UP: vs. Southern Methodist on Sept. 28.

Week 4 game of the week:Michigan State @ No. 21 Notre Dame, 3:30 p.m. ET, NBC – Coming off a win vs. Purdue, Notre Dame continues to try to climb back up the polls after their loss to Michigan last week.